EDMONTON – Several Red Deer dialysis patients are worried they may be forced to head to other communities for treatment, because the city’s dialysis unit has reached capacity.
“I just dread the thought of having to be put in a position like that,” said dialysis patient Eric Wilberg.
The 81-year-old Red Deer senior has been on dialysis for years. His wife, who is 80, is also on dialysis. They both receive three treatments per week. The time-consuming process – which involves eliminating waste and unwanted water from the blood of patients with kidney failure – takes about four hours per session.
Now, Wilberg worries he may have to drive or be bused to Stettler or Rocky Mountain House for treatment, which will add three hours of travel time to the process.
“As a user of the system… we’re going to probably be randomly shifted here and there. That is scary. It’s bad enough for young people, but people our age?” he wondered.
The problem is, the Red Deer Hospital Dialysis Unit is full. Dr. Kym Jim, a nephrologist at the hospital, says the 20-station unit has the capacity to accommodate 120 patients. But over the past six months, the unit has been over capacity a number of times.
“It’s a dialysis unit that was built 10 years ago with a planned duration of action of 10 years and it’s now full,” Jim said Wednesday.
Jim says the number of dialysis patients in Alberta doubles about every 10 years. And the need for dialysis has increased particularly over the past 20 years, due to the province’s aging population and growing diabetes rate.
“This is really a problem that is repeating itself. Approximately 20 years ago, we were in an identical situation of dialysis planning. Then we went through a number of years where dialysis planning kept pace with the growth,” he explained.
“They squeezed the system so much that it started to bleed,” Wilberg added. “And a Band-Aid approach – squirting off to satellite communities – isn’t really a good answer.”
Red Deer has looked at a number of possible solutions, including busing patients to surrounding communities and converting inpatient beds to dialysis beds. But Jim says the best long-term solution is expanding the unit.
“Realistically, Red Deer needs the construction of at least a 12-station dialysis unit to be able to get us through the next five to eight years.”
Health Minister Fred Horne says there are no immediate plans to expand the unit. Horne says the government will be looking at how it can expand capacity, and believes the long-term solution lies in home dialysis.
“We need to, and we are actually focusing on how to get more patients on home dialysis. Obviously more convenient and comfortable for them, and it avoids this kind of issue.”
But Jim says home dialysis is only suitable for about 10 per cent of patients, and Red Deer has already maximized its number of home dialysis patients.
For now, Horne says patients will likely have to travel.
“On a temporary basis, I understand some patients may be asked to go to other communities to receive their dialysis treatment,” he said. “It’s not uncommon in the north of the province to see patients have to travel to receive dialysis. So this isn’t something that’s ideal, but it is certainly not something that’s new.”
But Wilberg, whose wife also receives dialysis, says travelling isn’t ideal for them. With their low energy and specialized diets, he worries the extra travel will just be an added stress.
“Your gut reaction is, we’re treated like second-class citizens,” he said. “Why has this been put on the back burner for so long?”
“People shouldn’t have to get down and beg.”
With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News.
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